Beauty &The Geek - Episode 2

The episode starts off with a little recap of last week's episode, in case you didn't see it the 2 times the WB aired it last week or read my recap.

Then we see the remaining housemates after last week's vote off and they're all so shocked that they didn't even get to say goodbye. (Um, didn't we all hear the host say to the 2 teams up for elimination "Pack your bags and say your goodbyes?" Did you think he was just kidding?) But, ok, I guess I know what they meant.

This week's challenges are auto mechanics for the ladies and massage for the men. Then the teams have a day to practice and study. It's funny to see the men try to give massages, and it's pretty obvious that they've never given or received a massage before. But you'd think that maybe they'd read about it somewhere or something...

In one hallway, Mindi sits Richard down to give him a massage. I think that's the right idea - once he's experienced a decent massage, he'll have something to imitate. Right away, though, he shouts out "Ouch!" and insists that Mindi "did something" to his shoulder. He can't even go on with the practice, he's so injured. I don't know whether Mindi is a really bad masseuse or what, but that's just a little weird. Has Richard just never been touched before ever?

In another part of the mansion, Bill is sure they'll win the automotive challenge because, after all, he's the vice-president of the Dukes of Hazard fan club! At first I thought that was crazy talk, I mean, just because you're the fan club of a tv show doesn't mean you know anything practical about a subject. But the boyfriend convinced me that maybe, since he was always into Dukes of Hazard, that inspired him to get into cars more. Or maybe even the fact that he was into cars led to an interest in Dukes of Hazard. I mean, look at me, I love Legally Blonde and I'm also a lawyer, so I guess that's similar. Bill's partner, Lauren, comments that she feels pressure to win the challenge because of Bill's status in the club.

And now it's time for the challenge and the teams are standing in front of 6 cars. And the girls are wearing little short shorts and and little pink shirts that tie in the front. Bill comments that his fantasy has come true because all of the girls are in Daisy Duke shorts. And that's when I start to think, hey, wait a minute, why did they make them wear these outfits? Well, we know the answer to that, but still... I mean, they didn't make the guys wear costumes for any of their challenges.

The girls have to check the oil in the car, change the air filter, and change a tire. And here's what I thought was so weird... it's not like this is a subject that most of the guys know a lot about. (Except for the Dukes of Hazard guy.) I just don't think this falls under the category of general nerd intelligence. So, for the most part, the guys are just standing there watching. In the end, Caitilin won.

Next up, it's time for the guys to give their massages. And who will be the lucky recipients? The ladies, of course. Now we see a few clips of ladies saying "eeew" and of the guys commenting that they've never touched a woman before. One clip shows Chuck, the med student, rubbing his hands together and saying that most of these guys weren't trained to listen to a body with their hands.

The women come down wearing robes and take them off to reveal their bikinis. And, it's not just like "Ok, they're wearing bikinis, what else should they wear?" But there's definitely some camera angles so that you can check out the women pretty closely. What does this have to do with massage?

Now we see the women getting their massages. They're blindfolded and wear earplugs, and every few minutes the men switch and the women rate them. Some of the women are moaning "Mmm... yeah... that's good... right there," which I'm sure is not going to help these guys, who have never touched a woman before, concentrate at all. And here's another thing - I can see why, if a friend were to give you a massage, you'd comment with "Yeah, that's good" because they're not a professional, they don't know how you want it. But when you're getting a professional massage, are you supposed to moan like that? Just wondering.

Just as predicted, Chuck the med student wins. They don't really give us the breakdown so we can see whether or not it was a close race. And, once again, a team has won both of the challenges.

Over the next day, Chuck and Caitalin have a tough decision to make about who they will eliminate. Richard decides that his best bet is to brown nose the winners. Quite literally. We see him rubbing some mud on his nose, walking around the house with signs on, it's kind of ridiculous. And Chuck is obviously annoyed by it, so you almost start to wonder if he'll send Richard home just because of it.

We also learn that while Caitilin is interested in winning the HUGE CASH PRIZE, Chuck doesn't really care at all about the strategy of winning.

In the end, they do what was probably the smartest thing, strategically, and put both Erica & Joe and Krystal & Brad up for elimination. This guarantees breaking up their little romance that could turn into a strategic alliance. Erica cries, she doesn't want to be separated from Brad. Brad looks kind of sad but doesn't seem to care all that much (or maybe he doesn't show emotion well). But, you'd sort of think it'd be the other way around - that this geek would be really upset to lose the prospect of a cute girl, and that a "life size Barbie" would figure that she could get any guy she wants and move on. Another thing is that Erica interviews that she used to be really shallow, and now she isn't anymore, because she has a thing for a geek... and I gotta ask - Isn't it a little shallow that she fell for the med student in the house? I mean, not that it's a bad thing, I'm just saying, couldn't there be an ulterior motive there? [Nevermind, I stand corrected. She fell for "the mensa member," not the med student. I kept getting them confused for some reason. Even as I wrote this, I kept interchanging "Brad" and "Chuck." But Mensa member? Probably no shallowness there.]

They go to the elimination room, where the men have to answer questions about massage (with answers like "shiatsu" and "aromatherapy") and the women have to answer questions about car repair ("odometer" and "spark plug"). Strangely, Joe gets a bunch of questions wrong and doesn't really seem to upset by it. In one particular moment, he looks almost happy. You've gotta wonder whether Joe was possibly throwing the competition and ready to get out of there. So, Joe and Erica get eliminated, Erica cries, and Joe looks like "Oh well, it was fun, but it's over."

And that's that. Tune in next week. Actually, I'm not sure I'll keep doing this. It took so long. (And yes, I could've left some things out and made it shorter, but I didn't. Whatever.)

And another thing, in doing some searches about Beauty and the Geek (in the tv-journalism sector, meaning people who write about tv, not people who give news on tv, we call this "fact checking"), I saw a lot of comments about Erica being a slut for jumping into bed with Brad the first night she met him. Yes, I thought it was a little strange too (but, on the other hand, everyone in the house was sleeping together, so what's the big deal, and I doubt it was actually much more than sleeping), but the point is... I didn't see a single comment that Brad was a slut for sleeping with her on the first night. People, we need to get over our double standards.

And, finally, speaking of television recaps, I'm still waiting to hear what Woman of the Law thought of the Red Sox Queer Eye.

Eye know you don't like seeing the scantily clad women but that show is the most boring thing on televsion. The only reason worth watching it is the eye candy. The nerds aren't even that nerdy. You don't get the same fun you get when watching the train wrecks on American Idol.